Thank you for a great summer outside!

October 17, 2019

Everyone wants to be outdoors in Newport in the summer. During the summer, our shared parks and open spaces become our living rooms – places to come together, enjoy each other’s company, and appreciate nature. After a long wet spring, Newporters collectively gave a sigh of relief when that first warm summer day hit. As we look back on the summer gone by, we want to share with you some of the highlights of the season!

Arts Outdoors

Friends of the Newport Waterfront hosted many outdoor concerts at King Park, Newport Recreation Department hosted many concerts and childrens nights at Easton’s Beach, City of Newport hosted Shakespeare in Miantonomi Park, not to mention the success of Folk, Bridge, and Jazz fests! Newport enjoys beautiful views and outdoor spaces that are key to our tourist economy and high quality of living, making these events possible. According to the City of Newport Open Space Master Plan, parks and open spaces play critical roles in the life of our community – socially, environmentally, culturally, and economically.

Miantonomi Park

Miantonomi Park plays a critical role in northern Newport from many perspectives – offering key recreation, gathering space and passive enjoyment, wildlife habitat, and tree canopy in a densely populated neighborhood.

We are excited that Miantonomi Park provided an abundance of recreational and healthy activities this summer. Every Monday from July 1 – August 31, the park was bustling with the inaugural Miantonomi Farmers Market. Local farms and vendors provided fresh produce and baked goods, while adults and kids alike learned about healthy living. Over the past year and a half, the Newport Open Space Partnership worked with the Aquidneck Community Table and the Newport Health Equity Zone to receive approval from the Miantonomi Park Commission to operate the market in Miantonomi Park. This park provides critical tree canopy and open space to residents nearby and served as an ideal setting for this year’s Farmers Market in the northern part of the city. Thank you to everyone who supported the market!

Miantonomi Tower was open for climbing this summer on Saturdays and Mondays during the Farmers Market. The tower, built in 1929, is a WWI memorial, so we are pleased to continue the memory and legacy of this important place.

Another exciting Summer 2019 program at Miantonomi Park was the Play Hut! Physically, it is a large container filled with recreational equipment. Beyond that, the Play Hut is an opportunity for children to thrive during the summer. This was our third year hosting the Play Hut at Miantonomi Park and it has gotten better each year. The hut was open daily throughout this summer, with program staff coordinating games and individual play. According to Play Hut Attendant Trevor Cassese, “we saw a lot of returning faces of kids from last year, but a lot of new ones as well.”  All children are welcome to play at the hut, but most of the fifteen or so kids that visited each day walked from the nearby neighborhoods. Trevor said, “the kids really like the cornhole games but they love playing kickball and dodgeball. Other than paying for a summer camp, this is the only place they can go during the summer to play these kinds of games because it’s free of charge.” More than 44% of Newport’s population and 53% of its children under 14 live on the North Side of Newport, so Miantonomi Park is perfectly situated to serve the youth of our community.

Additionally, we are committed to ensuring that the park is equipped with all the resources it needs to serve our community. After the first year of the Play Hut, we realized that the lack of restroom facilities was hindering the ability of people to fully enjoy Miantonomi Park. There were previously restrooms installed, but they had been vandalized and fallen into disrepair. We advocated for the City of Newport Parks Department to prioritize replacement of these facilities and were thrilled to receive state Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management grant funds to replace the restrooms at Miantonomi Park. The City installed the compacted gravel base and extended existing water and sewer services. They also worked with an irrigation company and an electrician to install a new electric service. A big thank you to the City of Newport Parks and Utilities departments for making this project a reality!

Happy Fall!

We have many projects in the works this fall, including working with our partner Aquidneck Land Trust to preserve Ballard Park, supporting Aquidneck Island Planning Commission’s Island Waters project to preserve the health of Almy Pond, and continuing to work with the Newport Health Equity Zone on climate resilience, and many more!

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